My Heart in a Suitcase
Grades 4-8
In this production based upon the book by the same name, you will witness the struggle that a Jewish family faced to save it’s only daughter from the horrors of the Holocaust. Inspired by the true
story of 12-year-old Anne L. Fox’s experience leaving Nazi Germany for life in Great Britain, by
way of the Kindertransport, this play will bring to life the trials the Lehman family encountered
to survive amidst Anti-Semitism and violence during the years of 1933 to 1945. As she boards the
train with one small suitcase, Anne takes with her the hopes and dreams of her family while waving
goodbye to her parents for the last time.
NGSSS and Common Core: RL.5.2, RL.5.5, RL.6.3, RL.6.7, RL.7.3, RL.7.7, RL.8.3, RL.8.7,
SS.5.C.2.5, SS.7.C.2.3, TH.4.0.1.2, TH.4.0.2.1, TH.5.0.2.3, TH.6.8.S.1.1
Suggested Pre-performance Activities:
Vocabulary
Courage
Genocide
Bullying
Tolerance
Propaganda
Holocaust
Nazi
Concentration camps
Synagogues
Citizen
Kristallnacht
Prejudice
Ghetto
Jew (Jude)
Kindertransport
Arts Integrated activities that can be utilized before seeing My Heart in a Suitcase follow:
1. Talk to your students about the period in history from 1933 to 1945 when German Nazi’s began discriminating against Jewish people. They lost their jobs, lost their housing, lost the ability to attend
school, lost their ability to worship freely and lost their human and civil rights. This came to a head
on the nights of November 9 and 10 1938 (Kristallnacht - meaning night of broken glass). Thousands
of Jews were killed, homes damaged, businesses destroyed (hence broken glass) and thirty thousand
Jews were sent to concentration camps (prisons where people were mistreated, starved, overworked
and killed). After Kristallnacht, Kindertransport (1938-1940) was organized to transport thousands of
refugee Jewish children to Great Britain to live with foster families until it was safe to return home.
Ask your students to describe a time when they did not feel safe.
2. Anne’s parents kept her safe by sending her on
the Kindertransport. Most children who were
not safe, ended up in concentration camps. One
was Terezin. Using the poems found in I Never
Saw Another Butterfly, have students read and
then create a butterfly that represents one of the
poems. Explain that more than 15,000 children
under the age of 15 lived in Terezin. Only about
100 survived. Terezin was a concentration camp
that was used by the Nazis as a “model Jewish
settlement” for propaganda purposes. Many artists, singers and musicians passed through there on
their way to other camps. Hang the butterflies in the classroom from a string so that they can fly free
unlike those who did not survive.
My Heart in a Suitcase is a one-act play based on the true story of 12-yearold Anne L. Fox living in Germany in 1938 who was sent to strangers in
England with the Kindertransport. The characters of Anne Lehman, her
father Vati, mother Mutti, best friend Dorit and her teacher Mrs. Waldenburg are all based on Anne’s real family and best friend. Her older brother
Gunther was already in school in England. The play recounts what life is
like for this Jewish family under the rule of Nazi Germany and the need to
keep Anne safe by sending her away.
As the story comes to life, we see Anne’s family forced to wear six pointed
yellow stars that identify them as Jews. Mutti believes that this persecution will end and good people will come to their senses. After the evening
of November 8th (Kristallnacht), they decide to register Anne for Kindertransport - a program that permits Jewish children to leave Nazi-occupied
countries (Germany, Czechoslovakia and Austria) and re-settle in Great
Britain. With only one small suitcase, 12-year-old Anne boards a train alone and says goodbye to her
parents forever.
Based on the memoirs of Anne L. Fox, this play is a dramatization of the experiences of one family in a
real period of history. To present historically accurate visual images, this production incorporates symbols and gestures that are considered universally offensive: the Nazi swastika and uniform, the “Heil,
Hitler” salute and the six-pointed yellow Star of David, inscribed with the word Jew.
Resources for additional information:
To read the book that inspired the play, look for: Fox, Anne L. My Heart in a Suitcase. Portland, OR:
Valentine Mitchell, 1966.
To read the letters Anne’s parents wrote her and her brother in England, look for: Fox Anne L. Between
the Lines: Letters from the Holocaust. Atlantic City, NJ: ComteQ Publishing, 2005.
Please review the Kravis Center Rules with your students.
Respect the theatre
Respect the audience
Respect the performers
Here are some suggested follow up activities after attending a performance of My Heart in a Suitcase:
Please refer to the enclosed page, which contains a teacher lesson and a
student paper. You may copy the insert and use it as an extension of seeing
this performance.
1. In groups of four or five, have your students create a tableau (frozen
picture which tells a story) from one moment in the play. One person
in each group reads these lines, “Sometimes your heart wants certain
moments to stay forever - knowing somehow it’s an important moment
- not wanting it to end - holding onto it like some important picture like a photograph or something. That’s the way I felt seeing them all
standing there - my mother and father - who I called Mutti and Vati and
Dorit - my best friend.” Have each group decide on its pose, having different height levels for the participants (someone standing, one lower
(bending or kneeling) and one sitting on the ground). Rehearse, remainCharacter of Anne Lehman
ing still and silent. Select one student in each group to read Anne’s line
while the rest of the group is frozen in it’s pose. Share the different tableaus with the whole class.
2. Have your students interview a person of a different religion, race or culture. Ask them to write and/
or illustrate the similarities, differences and what makes him or her unique in a letter to that person.
Performance Study Guide Written and Designed by Linda Tylka.
Thank you for your support.
The S*T*A*R Series is sponsored by
The DeMatteis Family Foundation.
The presentation of My Heart in a Suitcase is sponsored by
inSIGHT through Education
Kravis Center Arts Integration Lesson Plan
Grade Levels 4-8
Lesson: My Heart in a Suitcase
Lesson: My Heart in a Suitcase
Goal of Lesson: Students will compare and contrast two different Holocaust stories.
Content Objective Addressed: NGSSS and Common Core: RL.5.2, RL.5.5, RL.6.3, RL.6.7, RL.7.3,
RL.7.7, RL.8.3, RL.8.7, SS.5.C.2.5, SS.7.C.2.3,
Arts Objective Addressed: TH.4.0.1.2, TH.4.0.2.1, TH.5.0.2.3, TH.6.8.S.1.1
Essential Question: (By grade level)
4. I can demonstrate understanding of the message of the play.
5. I can portray a character from the play.
6. I can describe the author’s (Anne L. Fox’s) point of view.
7 & 8. I can compare My Heart in a Suitcase to another Holocaust story (ex. Daniel’s Story, Number
the Stars, The Diary of Anne Frank, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, etc).
Lesson Strategies (Procedure): The teacher will prepare his/her students by discussing 1933-1945
Nazi Germany. The teacher can use a KWL chart to evaluate what his/her students already have learned
about that period of time in history. The teacher can compare this period of time to the years of slavery
in the United States and other examples of discrimination past and present.
Assessment Strategies: Students will be assessed by what they are able to write concerning discrimination.
Evaluation of Lesson (Reflection):
Student Name:_______________________________________________
In the space below, please write about a time you were discriminated against either at school or outside
of the school setting. How did that make you feel? Did you go to friends or family for advice or support?
How would you compare your situation to Anne’s?